Hand washboard



May 16, 1961 H. L. BASS 2,984,095;

. HAND WASHBOARD Filed Jan. 2. 1959 Fig. 2 f

-AFF 5 0 Helen L. Bas s 1N VEN TOR.

A0405? BY ym/4y Kim United States Patent HAND WASI-IBOARD Helen L. Bass, 6638 Rhoades Ave., Chicago 37, 11]., assignor of fifty-one percent to George W. Prince, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Jan. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 784,755

'1 Claim. (Cl. 68-220) This invention relates in general to new and useful improvements in household accessories, and more specifically to an improved hand washboard.

Although for all practical purposes the use of the old fashioned washboard for washing clothes has been discontinued, there are numerous instances where it is desired to handwash a limited amount of clothes and a washboard of some type is required in order that dirt may be scrubbed from the clothes. It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a washboard which may be mounted on ones hand and the clothes being washed may be scrubbed against the washboard carried by the hand through the manipulation of the clothes by the other hand.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hand washboard in the form of an elongated sheet of plastic material, the plastic material being configurated to be engaged over ones hand, ones wrist and a portion of ones forearm, and the plastic material being provided with ribs so that the desired scrubbing effect may be obtained.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hand washboard formed of a water resistant material, which washboard is to be positioned over ones hand and anchored over ones wrist, the hand engaging portion of the washboard having openings for ones thumb so as to prevent rotation of the hand washboard during use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hand washboard for use in scrubbing clothes on a small scale in a sink or wash basin, the hand washboard having a roughened exterior surface so that the desired scrubbing action may be obtained and being provided with a pocket for receiving a cake of soap so that the desired soap application may be simultaneous with the scrubbing action.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing the hand washboard mounted on the hand and arm of a user;

Figure 2 is a rotated developed view of the hand washboard and shows the specific outline of the sheet of material from which it is formed; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by section line 33 of Figure 2 and shows the details of a pocket for receiving a cake of soap.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in Figure l a hand 10, a wrist 12 and a forearm 14 of a person on which there is mounted the hand washboard which is the subject of this invention, the hand washboard being referred to in general by the reference numeral 16. The hand includes a thumb 18 and fingers 20 inasmuch as the thumb 18 is used to anchor the hand washboard 16, it is necessary that the 2,984,095 Patented May 16, 1961 specific features of the hand 10 be described even though conventional.

The hand washboard 16 is formed of a suitable water resistant material which has a roughened exterior surface. As is shown in Figure 3, the material from which the hand washboard 16 is formed is a plastic material having a plurality of transverse ribs 22 at spaced intervals. The ribs 22 provides the necessary roughened surface to effect the scrubbing action.

Resilient washboard 16 includes a hand engaging portion 24, a Wrist engaging portion 26 and a forearm engaging portion 28. As is best shown in Figure 2, the hand engaging portion 24 is connected to the wrist engaging portion 26 by a relatively narrow intermediate portion 30. Also, the wrist engaging portion 26 is joined to the forearm engaging portion 28 by a narrow connecting portion 32. It is further pointed out that while the widths of the wrist engaging portion 26 and the forearm engaging portion 28 are the same, the hand engaging portion 24 is of a greater Width than these two. Also, a suitable binding 34 extends about the entire periphery of the hand washboard 16.

In order that the hand engaging portion 24 may be anchored on the hand 10, there is provided an elongated thumb opening 36 which is aligned generally with the connecting portions 30 and 32 and which is defined by suitable bindings 38. Also, carried by the rear edge of the hand engaging portion 24 is a plurality of male snap members 40 and a plurality of female snap members 42. The snap members 40 and 42 cooperate to retain the hand engaging portion 24 around the hand 10.

The wrist engaging portion 26 is also provided with a plurality of male snap elements 44 and a plurality of female snap elements 46. The snap elements 44 and 46 are more closely spaced than the snap elements 40 and 42 and cooperate with each other to retain the wrist engaging portion 26 in place around ones wrist, such as the wrist 12.

The forearm engaging portion 28 is also provided adjacent the forward edge thereof with a plurality of male snap elements 48 and a plurality of female snap elements 50. Further, disposed at the rear corners of the forearm engaging portion 28 is a male snap element 52 and a female snap element 54. The various snap elements of the forearm engaging portion 28 serve to retain the shape of the hand washboard 16 and position it on the arm of the wearer.

Suitably secured to the interior surface of the handengaging portion in a position to overlie that part of the hand-engaging portion which normally overlies the palm of a wearer is a pocket-forming strip 56. The pocket-forming strip 56 defines a soap cake receiving pocket 58 which is open at the forward end thereof as at 60. The forward edge of the pocket forming strip 56 is provided with a suitable binding 62 which is similar to the binding 34. It is desired that the pocket-forming strip 56 be formed of the same material as is the main part of the hand washboard 16.

In order that circulation of water through the pocket 58 may be accomplished, formed in the hand-engaging portion 24 in alignment with the pocket 58 is a plurality of apertures 64. The apertures 64 permit the flow of water through the pocket 58 and over a cake of soap disposed therein so that during the scrubbing action the desired suds are formed.

From the foregoing description of the hand washboard 16, it will be readily apparent that it is of an extremely simple construction so that it may be manufactured at a very low cost. Furthermore, it may be readily stored and due to the arrangement of the fasteners it may fit the hand of any desired user. Furthermore, the hand washboard '16 is so constructed whereby one may grasp clothes in one hand and rub'the clothes against the other hand, that is the hand which is wearing the hand washboard 16 to respectively scrub clothes in a small quantity in a wash basin or sink. This is highly desirable when a few clothes must 'be hand washed and soiled spots in the clothes scrubbed therefrom.

The foregoing is considered 'as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is asfollows:

A hand washboard comprising an elongated member of flexible waterproof materialrthe external surface of said member having a plurality of ribs thereon, said member including a hand engaging portion, a wrist engaging portion and a forearm engaging portion, said hand engaging portion having an opening therein for receiving the thumb to prevent rotational movement of the hand washboard when mounted on the hand, wrist and forearm, means on the outer edges of the hand engaging portion for retaining the hand engaging portion in encircling relation to the hand, means on the outer end of the wrist engaging portion to retain the wrist engaging portion in encircling relation to the wrist, means on the outer end of the forearm engaging portion for retaining the forearm engaging portion in encircling relation to the forearm, said wrist engaging portion being connected to the forearm engaging portion and the hand engaging portion by relatively narrow areas spaced from each other whereby the wrist engaging portion is substantially in the nature of a flexible strap with the reduced area of connection between the wrist engaging portion and the forearm engaging portion and the hand engaging portion enabling articulation of the portions in relation to each other thereby enabling manipulation of the hand washboard, said hand engaging portion including a palm engaging part, and a pocket mounted on the interior surface of the palm engaging part with the palm engaging part being perforated in overlying relation to the pocket to permit circulation of water through said pocket whereby a bar of soap may 'be placed in the pocket and Water circulated over the soap for producing suds.

.Lewis Feb. 5, 1867 Schmidt July 28, 1936 

